According to the most recent statistics available (2012)

• About 400,000 children are in foster care in the US


• Almost half (47%) were in non-relative foster homes; 28% were in kinship care


• 53% of children in foster care had the expressed goal of reunification; 24% had the goal of adoption


• About half of kids discharged from foster care were reunited with their primary caregivers, 21% were adopted, and the remaining children had different outcomes (eg, emancipation or living with another relative)


• The median time spent in foster care was just over one year-13.4 months. This is an increase from the median 11.9 months 10 years ago


• Children can enter foster care at any time from birth to age 18. In 2012, the median age of a child in foster care was 8.5 years old


• 42% of children in foster care were white, 26% were black, 21% were Hispanic (of any race), and the remainder were another race, multiracial, or undetermined


• There were slightly more boys in foster care than girls-52% vs 47%


• Adults who had been in the child welfare system were more likely to experience heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, liver disease, and skeletal fractures


• More than half of children in the foster care system were exposed to four or more adverse childhood experiences, including neglect, sexual abuse, and household substance abuse

Sources: Child Welfare Information Gateway (2013). Foster care statistics 2012. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services, Children's Bureau; Stambaugh LF et al, Adverse childhood experiences in NSCAW. OPRE Report #2013-26. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families.